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Being There
Words, music, art and performance. The stuff of a satisfying life.After exploring the idea of home, where and what it is in A First Place, what does it mean to be a writer and where writing begins in The Writing Life, David Malouf moves on to words and music and art and performance in Being There. With pieces on the Sydney Opera House - then and now - responses to art, artists and architects, and including Malouf's not previously published libretti for Voss and a translation of Hippolytus, this is an unmissable and stimulating collection of one man's connection to the world of art, ideas and culture.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2015
About the author
David Malouf
85 books334 followersDavid Malouf was a celebrated Australian poet, novelist, librettist, playwright, and essayist whose work had garnered international acclaim. Known for his lyrical prose and explorations of identity, memory, and place, Malouf began his literary career in poetry before gaining recognition for his fiction. His 1990 novel The Great World won the Miles Franklin Award and several other major prizes, while Remembering Babylon (1993) earned a Booker Prize nomination and multiple international honors.
Malouf had taught at universities in Australia and the UK, delivered the prestigious Boyer Lectures, and written libretti for acclaimed operas. Born in Brisbane to a Lebanese father and a mother of Sephardi Jewish heritage, he drew on both Australian and European influences in his work. He was widely regarded as one of Australia's most important literary voices and had been recognized with numerous awards, including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature.
Malouf had taught at universities in Australia and the UK, delivered the prestigious Boyer Lectures, and written libretti for acclaimed operas. Born in Brisbane to a Lebanese father and a mother of Sephardi Jewish heritage, he drew on both Australian and European influences in his work. He was widely regarded as one of Australia's most important literary voices and had been recognized with numerous awards, including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 5, 2015
‘What is the ground of that capacity for simple delight in us on which so much complexity can be built?’
There are three parts to ‘Being There’. The first part includes various pieces that David Malouf had written since 1965, the second part includes two previously unpublished libretti for ‘Voss’ and ‘Mer de Glace’ and the third is a translation of ‘Hippolytus.’
I enjoyed the articles, introductory essays, talks that constitute part one: David Malouf’s erudite musings about the shape and meaning of art. About what it is, and about how we (as individuals) respond. These are pieces to read, think about, and reread. And to wonder whether (and how) definitions of and responses to art may have evolved over the almost fifty years covered by these articles. I have read some of these pieces when they were originally published, but to read them as a collection invites more detailed consideration of a personal relationship with art, especially with opera and music.
‘Any activity that demands our complete attention - absorption in a task, looking hard at a painting or a piece of sculpture, losing ourselves in the reading of a story or in a play or film; doing anything, as we say, that ‘takes us out of ourselves’ - is restorative, and in a particular way.’
I enjoyed, too, the two libretti, especially ‘Voss’. David Malouf’s introduction to this section sets out the context for his writing of the libretti, and reminded me of the challenges of adapting novels for stage (and film). I love the novel ‘Voss’, and, as for other novels to which I am emotionally attached, am not interested in any movie version of it. I know (somehow) that the movie will not match my interpretation. In the ‘Voss’ libretto, though, I could recognise ‘my’ Voss. ‘Mer de Glace’ is different in that it is not a representation of Mary Shelley’s novel ‘Frankenstein’ but a depiction of the first telling of the story.
And ‘Hippolytus’? Left me wanting to reacquaint myself with Euripides.
I enjoyed this book, with its collection of different pieces, providing both a view into David Malouf’s relationship with art in various forms, and a looking glass through which to consider my own responses to interpretation and performance. About what I like, and why.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Australia for an opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
There are three parts to ‘Being There’. The first part includes various pieces that David Malouf had written since 1965, the second part includes two previously unpublished libretti for ‘Voss’ and ‘Mer de Glace’ and the third is a translation of ‘Hippolytus.’
I enjoyed the articles, introductory essays, talks that constitute part one: David Malouf’s erudite musings about the shape and meaning of art. About what it is, and about how we (as individuals) respond. These are pieces to read, think about, and reread. And to wonder whether (and how) definitions of and responses to art may have evolved over the almost fifty years covered by these articles. I have read some of these pieces when they were originally published, but to read them as a collection invites more detailed consideration of a personal relationship with art, especially with opera and music.
‘Any activity that demands our complete attention - absorption in a task, looking hard at a painting or a piece of sculpture, losing ourselves in the reading of a story or in a play or film; doing anything, as we say, that ‘takes us out of ourselves’ - is restorative, and in a particular way.’
I enjoyed, too, the two libretti, especially ‘Voss’. David Malouf’s introduction to this section sets out the context for his writing of the libretti, and reminded me of the challenges of adapting novels for stage (and film). I love the novel ‘Voss’, and, as for other novels to which I am emotionally attached, am not interested in any movie version of it. I know (somehow) that the movie will not match my interpretation. In the ‘Voss’ libretto, though, I could recognise ‘my’ Voss. ‘Mer de Glace’ is different in that it is not a representation of Mary Shelley’s novel ‘Frankenstein’ but a depiction of the first telling of the story.
And ‘Hippolytus’? Left me wanting to reacquaint myself with Euripides.
I enjoyed this book, with its collection of different pieces, providing both a view into David Malouf’s relationship with art in various forms, and a looking glass through which to consider my own responses to interpretation and performance. About what I like, and why.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Australia for an opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Read
March 1, 2019A lot more about opera than any other art form, which I didn't anticipate, but still great.
Read
July 12, 2015Didn't read it. Will have to return at a later, more relaxed time. Sorry
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews